Hyphenated last names

[Anonymous]

I don't give it a second thought other than that it must be an administrative pain.

[Anonymous]

DH and I have different last names. Our kids have my last name as a middle name and DH's as a surname. This was my choice; DH was willing to hyphenate if I wanted. Kids are now 17 and 22. This naming arrangement has worked out fine. I've never minded having a different last name from my kids and it's never been a problem.

But when I see a hyphenated last name, I kind of kick myself that I didn't hyphenate our kids' names, lol. I didn't do it because I thought it would be a pain, but then my kids went to a high school that is about 40% Latino, and you know what? It's not hard. Oh well.

[Anonymous]

With some shorter names it seems to flow & look fine, and with other's not so much. I know one family where they alternate for the kids. 1st born has moms last name, 2nd has dads & 3rd moms. I would find that more confusing, but it works for them.

[Anonymous]

We have a 9yo with two last names, no hyphen. For 10years people have been asking us this question. It is really no big deal. It has not been a problem flying, even if sometimes the airline only puts one name on. It hasn’t been a problem that our kids have two last names and DH and I each have one. It hasn’t been a problem at the doctor’s office. It has purely been a problem with school (public school) deciding on my children’s behalf that to simplify things they are only going to use one name on things like name tags and certificates...which is was upsetting to a K who had no reason to understand the politics over grownups telling her to use only one name. We shut that down quick.

[Anonymous]

I think it’s just a naming convention, the way -son, -dottir, two last names, new last names, blended last names are all just naming conventions. Any could cause administrative problems, but so could virtually anything when you’re dealing with airlines— ask my uncle who is a III. I think the hysteria about it in the US is misogyny or internalized misogyny or insularity depending on the person.